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WASHINGTON (AP) – A year after COVID-19 disrupted the lives of millions of Americans, there are disturbing signs that the coronavirus may also have slowed progress against another deadly health threat: smoking.
Fewer smokers called quit smoking helplines in the last year and some have smoked more, which has contributed to an unusual increase in cigarette sales – all amid stress, anxiety and stress. the uncertainty of the pandemic.
“It’s hard for people to quit smoking at the best of times, so what happens when life is suddenly turned upside down?” said Jen Cash, who oversees Minnesota’s anti-smoking programs.
Researchers Already Concerned About Impact of COVID-19 on Cancer Screenings and opioid overdoses because many Americans have been cut off from routine care and testing. But services to help smokers quit – provided by phone and online – appear well positioned to withstand the disruptions of the pandemic. The programs help design a plan and often provide free nicotine gums and patches.
Still, calls to states routed through a national phone line fell 27% last year to about 500,000 – the largest drop in a decade, according to the North American Quitline Consortium. In a recent report, the Coalition of Anti-Smoking Advisors cited the pandemic and declining public awareness messages.
“It’s really disturbing to see that the calls from the stop line have gone down so much because they are exactly what I was hoping to increase,” said Dr. Nancy Rigotti of Harvard Medical School, who was not involved in the report.
In a separate investigation out of 1,000 adult smokers, Rigotti and his colleagues found that about a third reported smoking more in the first six months of the pandemic.
Alli Comstock, of Los Angeles, had been smoke-free for seven years when she lost her daycare job last March due to the pandemic. Facing her first period of long-term unemployment, she resumed smoking, both out of boredom and anxiety.
“It was just something else to do and it calmed me down,” said Comstock, 32, adding that she knew cigarettes, which contain the stimulant nicotine, do not help relieve the anxiety.
Comstock finally quit again after months of feeling like “we were in a time when it didn’t matter.”
“In November, I realized this was important and that I was a smoker, and I didn’t want to be,” she said.
Research has linked other traumatic events to relapses in ex-smokers, including after the 9/11 attacks.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says it is too early to assess the impact of the pandemic on smoking rates. In a statement, the CDC noted that although cigarette sales climbed around the first lockdowns last March, they have since fallen back to previous levels. This suggests that the increase was mainly due to smokers who stocked up on cigarettes.
The smoking rate in the United States has remained stable at around 14% in recent years after a drop of more than 40% in the 1960s. Smoking, which can cause cancers, strokes and heart attacks, is responsible for approximately 480,000 annual deaths.
Since smoking overlaps with many other forms of addiction, data on quitting attempts is closely monitored by doctors who treat people who abuse drugs and alcohol, many of whom also suffer from depression and anxiety. .
Dr Brian Hurley of the Los Angeles County Department of Health says people with addictions are less likely to recover if they continue to smoke. Last year, the drop in hotline calls suggested “a vortex of worse results,” said Hurley, a board member of the American Society of Addiction Medicine.
Quitting smoking, however, is notoriously difficult with just 7% of success, according to CDC figures. Many smokers are referred to quit smoking helplines during their annual check-up. These appointments largely ended last spring along with most other non-essential care.
Yet last year’s data on calls to quit smoking includes glimmers of positive news. Smokers who called the Minnesota hotline reported smoking more, but also said they were more motivated to quit because of COVID-19. This reflects national data showing that smokers are aware that smoking can make them more vulnerable to serious illnesses caused by coronavirus infection.
Experts seeking to explain the trends of the last year are also reporting a decline in anti-smoking advertising campaigns by public health services. In many cases, these promotions have been replaced with messages about masking, social distancing, and hand washing.
The CDC recently resumed its national “Smokers’ Councils” advertising campaign and conducts its annual Adult and Adolescent Tobacco Use Surveys, the definitive snapshot of smoking and vaping in the United States.
Prior to the virus outbreak, the main focus was on the alarming increase in e-cigarette use among high school and middle school students. Survey data conducted before classrooms closed showed teen vaping was already declining compared to 2019, following new flavor bans and increasing the legal age to buy them.
With teens unable to attend school or socialize regularly with their friends, researchers believe the pandemic may have slowed the social spread of vaping even further.
“I have a feeling that maybe it had a positive effect on vaping in teens, but a negative effect on smoking in adults,” Rigotti said.
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Follow Matthew Perrone on Twitter: @AP_FDAwriter
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The Associated Press’s Department of Health and Science receives support from the Department of Science Education at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
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